Most of the people were drunk and/or stoned. That sort of rules out clear thinking.
Panic does horrible things to your mind. That is why drilling is done so often for people who have to deal with emergencies. In that situation, people would respond without even knowing why—its just been trained into them.
There is something to be said about visualize someone trying to “get at” you whenever you walk into a room. Just a couple of seconds of thought, could save your life.